It's contrast to the darkness of the actual game itself - these are idol rooms and they must look spectacular. Also this screenshot was captured when entering the room immediately (HDR at it's brightest).

There is no specific need for a heads up display (as everything dangerous kills in one hit and there are no ranged weapons) so we decided to just take it off to enhance immersion. Tutorial in the game is provided by just showing it on the screen and highlighting game elements around the player.

Many underestimate the immersion that full body awareness gives. It adds a new dimension of realism to any game. Not many games use it because of the possibly hard implementation but if it was in more games (CS:S, HL2 maybe even TF2) it would add to the feeling of being there.

You don't have to wait very long to test it - in fact, there is the download already, but it's being authorized by Moddb first. It's Tortal! Alpha Test Version 0.889 and it includes the level editor too :D